Just when you think you’ve seen it all in the great sport of MMA,
something new happens – and on April Fools’ Day, no less.
On Thursday night, the first event in a doubleheader for Cage Fury Fighting Championships took place in
Philadelphia titled
CFFC 94. The event was capped off by a thrilling welterweight
championship clash between Evan Cutts
and Bassil
Hafez, where it became the first bout in the organization’s
history to reach the fifth round – CFFC title fights are four-round
affairs, with the possibility for a fifth should it be tied up.
Even though this was a historic occasion, the biggest story was not
about the championship showdown, the omoplata that occurred earlier
in the night or the other fun fights on the card. The most
noteworthy was that a fighter lost a finger.
The co-headliner saw undefeated Devin
Goodale square off against 2012 Olympic wrestler Khetag
Pliev in a 180-pound catchweight contest. The two battled it
out for ten hard-fought minutes, and at the end of the second
frame, Pliev looked pained and frustrated, while looking down at
his left hand. The fight was halted by the doctor and referee David
Osaghae, but everyone involved was immediately confused at the
stoppage, including the victor. Goodale later noted in his brief
post-fight interview that he did not know what had transpired.
The commentary booth had noted that the fight had been called off,
and that Pliev had suffered a hand injury while speculating it
could have been a broken hand or other kind of similar injury. When
the camera finally panned over Pliev’s corner from an overhead
angle, and they could see the damage, the scene took a turn for the
macabre.
What the fuck???? Khetag Pliev’s finger is
gone
#CFFC94 pic.twitter.com/svNeLy8ygd— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman)
April 2, 2021
“Oh my god,” play-by-play commentator and veteran MMA journalist
John Morgan remarked. Color commentator Phil Brooks
stammered a response of a confused “What?” when seeing that Pliev
only showed four fingers on his left hand. “Is the finger gone,”
Morgan asked, “What am I seeing here?”
The two play-callers sat in stunned silence, as did much of the MMA
community, when Pliev was minus one finger. “Where is his finger,”
Brooks – also known as “CM Punk” –confusedly queried. Morgan
countered with, “is his finger gone? I am speechless right here, I
don’t know if I’m seeing what I thought I saw, that is not
something you see every day. Unbelievable. And Pliev has a lot less
panic on his face than I certainly would, you see Goodale…”
Brooks interjected, “I just got 100 percent word, his finger fell
off. And I don’t know…it’s gone…where is it? Does a fan have a
lucky souvenir, or did we locate the finger?”
The finger was not ejected from the cage, it did not fly into the
stands or through the floor like a few mouthpieces in the Ultimate Fighting Championship have of late.
Instead, it bent all the way back into Pliev’s glove, and was
lodged in it while barely attached by the skin – the bone was
cleanly broken.
“I mean, that’s one of the most bizarre scenes I’ve ever seen,
unbelievable,” Morgan said while still shocked.
After the bout, and after medical staff placed Vaseline on the open
wound and ice on the damaged hand, Pliev was rushed to the hospital
to have it reattached. The emergency surgery proved to be a
success, and Pliev sent a photograph to ESPN
to show that his finger was attached once more. Pliev was
reportedly in good spirits, while irritated that the fight was
stopped as he was willing to continue fighting with just nine
fingers. The official ruling on Sherdog Fight Finder is that
Goodale won by technical knockout due to a detached finger.
Update from Pliev: “All good ” pic.twitter.com/TeVI5ZPzuh
— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi)
April 2, 2021
On Friday morning, Pliev posted a picture from the hospital on his
Instagram.
In his caption, he wrote the following:
“My family, friends and fans.
From the debts of my heart, you and God are my soul motivation! And
to me you are all one and the same!!! To the hundreds of you I
apologize I’m unable to respond individually but I wanted to let
you know that I am ok. Finger is back in place. Love you all! God
bless you all, and this fight is not over yet. Dr. Maggie Wilson
did a job.”